Monday, November 14, 2011

Reviewing Civil War Compiled Military Service Records

Not long ago I wrote a post about ordering a Civil War Compiled Military Service Record from NARA for my great-great-grandfather, Ellis H. Bickerstaff. NARA said it could take four to six weeks for the file to arrive so I settled in for the wait, anticipating a nice, bulky bunch of photocopies. Surprise! The envelope arrived last Friday, just over three weeks from the date I ordered it. Surprise again! (And disappointment, too.) There were only 2 pages of records in it.

I had hoped these records might shed some light on events in Ellis's past that led him to commit suicide. They don't. But I did learn some things I didn't know.

Ellis enlisted in Steubenville, Ohio, and mustered in at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, a (current) distance of about 150 miles.

He enlisted on Monday, May 2, 1864, to serve for a period of 100 days. He mustered in on Sunday, May 15, 1864 and mustered out on Friday, September 2, 1864. From muster in to muster out, he served for 110 days.

Ellis was 24 when he enlisted.

He had blue eyes, brown hair, a fair complexion, and was 6' tall.

Ellis left behind a wife, Emma Nelson Bickerstaff, and one daughter, Susan, who was not yet two years old. A son was born in 1864 but I don't know if it was before Ellis left or after he returned. Ellis and Emma married on September 1, 1861. He was discharged one day after their third anniversary.

The second paper in the envelope is divided into 3 columns. Two are Muster Rolls, the other is a Muster-out Roll. They are in reverse chronological order on the paper. I separated them when I scanned them and I've transcribed them below in chronological order.

If any of you readers have insights about these records that I may have missed, I'd be grateful to hear from you. With this information is there a way to tell where Ellis served and whether his company and/or regiment fought in any battles? Thanks.

16 comments:

I'm surprised a discharge paper wasn't included. But yeah, the file is usually pretty small. My ancestor was in the war for over a year and his file was only about a half dozen pages. The pension file is where the heft is.

According to Ancestry the 157th was assigned guard duty of POWs at Fort Delaware. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System also has information on the regiments: http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/regiments.cfm

Heather, thanks for all the links and other information. I'll check them out and see what I can find. Yes, Ellis and several of his brothers and cousins enlisted at the same time and/or served together.

Claudia, it was 40 years after his C.W. service that Ellis committed suicide. I just wondered if it was something that had weighed on his mind all those years until it wore him down. I'll do some more research. Thanks for the suggestion about injured/hospitalized soldiers' records.

Nancy, I couldn't find a book written explicitly about the 157th Ohio, but WorldCat indicates that "Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers" by Whitelaw Reid has a chapter on the 157th regiment. It's available for free on Google Books, and also in the Columbus library.

Did Ellis or his widow apply for a pension? If so, that should give you a more insight on his experiences. It could have been in that he was in constant pain, and it eventually became unbearable. Best of luck in your search!

The civil war pension records generally contain more information about the solder and his family than the service records. I have two civil war ancestors and a twin brother of one of those who served also served. I guess I was somewhat lucky, my civil war service records contains enough documents to copy onto 9 - 15 legal sized pages.

About Me

Sometimes I want to jump back in time, into the lives of my ancestors. Not to stay, of course -- too many modern conveniences I'd rather not do without -- but to meet them and watch their interactions with each other. Since I can't do that, I spend time learning about them and the times in which they lived. I look forward to meeting them. I've been seriously searching for my ancestors for nearly 8 years. I plan to continue indefinitely.
If you think we might have ancestors in common or you'd like to contact me for any other reason, please email me at myancestorsandme @ gmail.com.